Skipping With Merida

Yesterday, I took Libby to Disneyland all by herself. Each of the girls wanted an "alone day". Gracie's day was last week and now it was Libby's turn. 

Libby had her list of things she wanted to do, which changed over the course of the day.

The most important things on her list were to see the parade and go to the chocolate shop. First thing we did when we arrived was to go to the chocolate shop! She marched right in and announced, "I am a chocolate girl!"

She wanted to ride Ariel, the train, Small World, Dumbo and the carrousel. Small World is still closed and she forgot about Dumbo and the carrousel once we got there. We rode the train, Ariel, Alice in Wonderland and a Main Street horse-drawn wagon.

One thing on her list was to visit Winnnie The Pooh. She changed her mind later about seeing him though, so we never did. But, she did see the other characters on her list for the day: Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Tinkerbell and Merida, the Scottish Princess from the movie Brave.

When she met Merida, she had a really great visit. Merida spent extra time with her. It seemed like Merida enjoyed meeting Libby just as much as Libby enjoyed meeting Merida! Now, that's a good Disney character!

Merida asked Libby if she was going to meet anyone else and Libby said she will go visit Winnie the Pooh. Merida thought maybe Winnie was short for Winifred the Pooh, and they discussed this a bit. Libby also told her that she likes her blue wedding dress more than her green riding dress. Merida took that opportunity to play up the 'I'm not getting married" bit, which made Libby giggle endlessly. They had a great visit!

When they were finally finished bonding, Merida said to me, "Mom, come back in 45 minutes and just come to the backside of this area and she can walk with me when I take my break." I said ok, but I wasn't sure if we could scoot all the way across Disneyland to meet Winnie the Pooh and get back in time to walk with Merida. I was pretty sure Libby didn't catch that tidbit anyway so I decided not to worry about it. Eh, another little girl could walk with her.

Libby skipped to me and said she had fun with Merida, but she was hungry now. Could we get some food? The nearest place to eat was in Toon Town, so we headed there. Libby wanted to meet Minnie Mouse anyway. We went to Toon Town and Libby had a hotdog from Pluto's Dog House and I got a salad at Clarabelle's. When we finished eating I looked at the time and it was almost Merida's break time. Hmm, might as well go back and let Libby walk with her.

I am so glad I backtracked and we went back to walk with Merida. She recognized Libby right off and it turned out to be a really wonderful experience. No worries, we returned to Toon Town to visit Minnie Mouse caught up with Goofy too. But no character had as much magic as Merida did! I wasn't sure how much I could get on video before either my battery died or my memory card filled up, so I ran the video and just let it roll assuming it would die but I would get all I could of their walk. I ended up getting a great video! Here is Libby's walk with Merida:

Disneyland with three children

Take three kids to Disneyland all by myself? Sure! Why not!

I'm 47 years old and out of shape, but I spent 8.5 hours in the Disneyland Resort with three kids: my daughters, Gracie, almost 7 yrs old, and Libby, 4 and a half, and  my grandson Henry, 21 months. My age exceeds theirs, but their energy is far superior to mine! This is how I managed the day:

I figured I would be outnumbered by too much, so we'll just do a few things and head home. I don't know why I always think I can go to Disneyland for just a short time. I get too excited when I'm there and I keep doing "one more thing" before I leave. The place is just too happy to want to leave!

I prepped the girls by telling them that it will be Henry's day to choose whatever we do. And we will stop to change his diaper and they will behave so I can pay more attention to Henry, yadda, yadda, yadda...  They nodded, oh yes, mom, we understand, of course mom, yes indeed mom, etc.  Ok, preliminary setup complete.

Selling my double stroller may have been a mistake, or maybe not. I don't use it anymore and now I wondered if I would need it. I asked on facebook if anyone had a double I could borrow but only got one offer and I passed on it because that double stroller would have been like pushing a bus.

There are two times in the day when I have to fold up the stroller, carry it, the bags, jackets, carry a kid, balance a water bottle and guide the other kid up or down steep steps to the parking lot tram or bus. It's not easy, and I would have three kids to herd while packing the stroller and things up into the tram this time. I thought better about taking a bigger stroller and decided not to pursue trying to borrow one after all. Instead, I decided to take my single stroller and Libby would just have to walk all day.

To manage the tram ride, I thought I would use a baby carrier to carry Henry and then I would have two hands free to carry and guide the girls. Two hands are better than one!  So, I made a baby carrier. I then had a baby carrier, a leash for Henry and a stroller. Libby and Henry could take turns walking and riding in the stroller. That would work.

My little plan actually worked out just fine! The two hours that I spent making a carrier were well worth it when I had to strap Henry to my back. He spent about a half an hour in it, but I had it if I needed it later too. One thing I learned though, is I should strap him to my front instead of my back because the tram didn't allow me to ride with him on my back even if I sat sideways. So, the whole entire packed solid tram had to wait for me to untie him and let him out of the carrier, which is easier said than done because I tied him on as securely as I could, and I was trying not to elbow the guy next to me. I joking said it would be harder to get off the tram since I now didn't have the baby in the carrier and would have to herd three of them. The guy next to me offered to help if he could do anything so I told him I'll take him up on that. I would appreciate it if he would pull the stroller across the row and get it out of the tram and over the yellow line, I can do the rest. He said, "that's it? sure!" Awesome. Extra hands - that's perfect!

Once we got off the tram and I unfolded the stroller, got Henry strapped into the seat, Libby suddenly realized that Henry was riding in her stroller and she was left to walk on her own two feet. Tears! Agony! Defeat! Robbery! Woe is me! Poor Libby was going to have to walk all day long while her nephew gets to ride! Mom, you ruined my whole life!  She got that out of her system, accepted her fate, and was fine the rest of the day. She skipped and danced all day long. I guess she's outgrown the need for a stroller.

We only went to attractions that were easy to load and unload the kids and kept us all together. The girls and I discussed this before we arrived and we had a pretty good plan laid out. We decided to hit Adventureland and Critter Country, ride the train all around Disneyland and if we still had energy, we would go to CarsLand, Bugsland and then head home. I thought that sounded like a lot of walking for Libby, but I wasn't going to tell her that. I have the baby carrier if Libby can't walk that much. No problemo!

We first went up Main Street and into the castle. The Sleeping Beauty storybook walkthrough was our first attraction that we went to. It was easy enough to manage the three kids. The girls held hands and I carried Henry. It was great. I felt confident that our whole day was going to be a good one. When we exited the castle, I checked my phone and had three texts from friends who were also at Disneyland and wanted to catch up with us if possible. I replied and with where we were and which direction we were headed.  We managed to get together with one friend, but never did run into the others. Once I had a friend in tow, I put him to work helping me out with the kids.

The friend we ran into is the husband of a teacher that my husband works with. Did you follow that? Our spouses are co-workers.

Getting the kids around the park and on the rides really wasn't difficult. Gracie and Libby are well educated about how to conduct themselves in a crowded place and how to wait patiently in line. Henry was so enchanted by the sights and sounds that he was just soaking it all in and very easy to handle. The girls did decide they would climb every railing, wall, fence, or tree they could find. That was annoying! I feared the worst every time their little legs started to scale upward. They never got far off the ground, just a step or two, but I kept imagining my visit to the Disneyland ER with two crying kids and one bloody screaming kid. Didn't think that would be very fun. I spent the entire day saying "no climbing". It didn't work at all, they climbed everything all day long! Amazingly, they never fell. Whew!

Most bathrooms, if not all, I am not sure about this, have a nice diaper changing station. I changed Henry only a couple of times because he just didn't need it. One bathroom had a long line of mamas holding babies who needed a fresh diaper, so I just changed Henry in the stroller. He didn't mind. There is a baby center but we were never anywhere near it.

Luckily, Henry didn't have a messy diaper because I forgot to bring baby wipes! I remembered diapers and extra clothes, I brought a nap blanket, jackets and hats, snacks and water, but I forgot the baby wipes. I did remember lollipops! It's not a good idea to bring lollipops and neglect to bring baby wipes. That was really the only thing I didn't do well all day.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, the kids were too. We had such a fun day though, it was well worth the extra effort to take all three at once. I think they had a more enjoyable experience spending the day together than if I would have just taken Henry by himself.

Another Fun Crazy Week!

Why do I call myself a Stay-At-Home-Mom? I've done everything except stay home lately!

I need to blog about each of these adventure filled days individually, but with one adventure on top of the next (and laptops that are falling apart) it's hard to get much blogging done. Trust me when I say: any free time is devoted to groaning about my aches from the day, sleeping, or wishing I was alseep. 

Monday, I took the kids to Disneyland. Our first trip for February and our 4th trip in 2013. I lost track of how many times I've taken the kids since we started going, but according to Gracie we've been there "a thousand times!". Actually, I think it's more like 30 to 35 or so.  Each and every time is exciting and fun. Monday was extra fun because we were able to see the  Chinese New Year celebration and the Mardi Gras celebration. Both of these are special events and I'm surprised that we got to see both. We also randomly ran into a friend and her little girl while we were there so we had fun sticking together for the rest of the day. It was a great day!

Tuesday, we went to San Diego to celebrate Katie's 24th birthday a day early with her. We went to her house and the kids played with Henry while Katie rested on the couch and I cleaned up her kitchen. I brought her a sack of groceries, a cheesecake, and a bouquet of flowers. She was pretty happy! After the dishes were done (Lordy, that girl had a ton of dirty dishes!) we went to Balboa Park for a nice walk and we toured the Model Railroad Museum. Did I take my camera? No. Whoops! After tearing the kids away from the train museum, we went out to eat Mexican. It was delicious! Katie got a special birthday treat for desert. The kids were really excited to help her eat it.

Wednesday was the science fair. Gracie worked hard on her project and I was wondering if I over-helped, but once we got to the science fair I could see that I easily stepped back enough. In fact, one science experiment was totally a mom-done job. The mom stood by her science project beaming like one of the kids. I have no idea where her kid was, but this mom was pretty happy with herself. She did a fingernail polish "experiment". Whatever, it was straight off of pinterest. Gracie actually did her own science experiment!  She learned a lot too. Gracie put white carnations in colored water and watched the color go up into the pedals. She made a diagram of a flower and labeled all the parts and read all about how plants and flowers absorb water and nutrients. We turned this into a real learning opportunity and she loved it. Hands-on learning is her favorite way to study.

Wednesday was also Katie's real birthday. We didn't celebrate it though because we did on Tuesday. We just thought of her and hoped she was having a great day.

It was also Dress like a princess day in Libby's Ballet class. Libby chose to dress like Jasmine, which is a costume she never chooses to wear so it surprised me but it was great for class. The only problem was that I forced her to wear a shirt under it. Gosh, I'm such a mean mom!

Thursday was Valentines' Day and run a bunch of errands day. Gracie and Libby had their valentine cards all ready to pass to friends.  Gracie took hers to school for their afternoon "Friendship party". For a no-sugar school, she sure came home with a lot of candy! Libby delivered a few valentines to her friends and was satisfied with that.  We went to the post office, Redbox, bank, Walmart, Vet, and delivered valentines. It was a crazy day of errands but we got a lot done! Since Daddy was teaching in the evening, the girls and I had a movie night. We watched Hotel Transylvania. It was a cute movie. It had a love storyline in it, so it was sort of Valentiney, but mostly Halloweeny.

Friday,  Libby went to spend the day with friends while I took Gracie to Disneyland. Just a Gracie and Mom day! I thought it was much needed, but starting the day off tired from the crazy busy fun week called for some extra coffee. Libby ended up staying at the sitter for 12 hours! Whoops! Gracie and I just had too much fun I guess. But, I had to run errands before we left again. We went to the post office, Walmart (serioulsy, I just did this yesterday too), Sams Club for gas, and returned a movie in the Redbox.

Saturday was clean the garage day. I cleaned out all of my stuff that was everywhere and in my husband's way. Took me about 5 minutes to move the three or four items that weren't his. The garage is still a complete mess.

Crazy Busy Fun Week

We just ended a very crazy busy fun week! Loved it! Last week was dreary, cloudy, gray, cold, rainy and full of boring homework and housework. We all had the blahs. This week, the weather was gorgeous, school was out at noon each day, we were between homework folders, and we just felt like having fun. So, we did!

Monday: The girls donned their Rapunzel dresses complete with flower hair clips and fluffy petticoats and we went to Disneyland for the day. We spent time in Disneyland and California Adventure. It was so much fun! The crowds were fairly thin except on the most popular rides, so most of our day was easy. The girls had a very special visit with Rapunzel and another with Merida. The princesses were enjoying visiting with Gracie and Libby too! Rapunzel signed our autograph book (which is a Princess Encyclopedia from Scholastic) and then she wanted to read the book to the girls. They loved it! Merida listened and laughed while Gracie talked, who knows what stories she heard, but she sure seemed to enjoy them. The girls twirled around several times with the princess. They had the best princess encounters today!  Among other things, we rode the Raditor Springs Racers ride. It's amazing! Libby loved half of it, Gracie and I had a blast! It was a great day at Disneyland.

Tuesday: We went to San Diego and had lunch at Ikea with Katie and Henry. The girls played in the Ikea play area where they offer free supervised play for an hour. After Ikea, we took the kids to the Fleet Science Center to play. Libby fell asleep between the two and continued to nap the whole time we were at the Science Center. She woke up as we were walking away from the building to the car after we were done. Poor girl was sad that she didn't get to go to the Science Center.

Wednesday: Every Wednesday morning, I meet my friends for coffee and Libby tags along and has a playdate with her little buddy too. Gracie only had school until noon.  After "mom-therapy", Libby had ballet class. Ballet is always fun - the class is so cute! We picked up Gracie and came home for lunch after which Gracie promptly reported that she was tired and going to bed to take a nap. Of course I felt her head for a fever and freaked out. I just knew she was sick! The kid who never runs out of energy took a 3-hour long nap. I cancelled our park playdate because I had this feeling of impending doom aka puking and such. Gracie was so mad when she woke up! She really didn't want to miss her playdate. I hovered over her like a hawk the rest of the week. Naps freak me out. Turns out, she was just fine. Apparently, she gets tired. Who knew?

We had our parent-teacher conference on Wednesday also. Gracie's teacher is out on maternity leave and she's had a sub for quite a while. The sub is terrific! Miss Tiffiny is the sub and she informed us that she cannot continue to sub for the class because there is a 30 day limit (she must have meant 30 school days because she's been the teacher for a while) so the class will be getting a new sub even though she is capable, willing and senses an unnecessary disruption by bringing in a new person. But, those are the rules and the classroom teacher isn't ready to return yet. I can't help but wonder who thought up the ridiculous 30 day rule. Dumbasses making the rules again. Miss Tiffiny is an awesome teacher; I really hate to see her leave Gracie's classroom. Gracie is doing very well. But... (oh no, there's the big 'but'!) she's bored out of her mind. She entertains herself rather than doing her work, and her work is easy enough for her. She just doesn't want to do it. She's much rather make character out of locks of her hair and have a puppet show. She's at the top of her class and has mastered all of the first grade skills. Because of this, she recommended that we move Gracie up to the second grade curriculum instead of continuing with the first grade work. Hopefully this will help.

Thursday: Gracie didn't seem to be sick in any way and was out of school at noon again (minimum days for parent-teacher conferences). When I picked her up, we didn't even go home. We went straight to Disneyland! We made an agreement that since today was a school-day and so is the next day, our time at Disneyland will be short. We got there shortly after 1:00pm and we were home at 8pm. A short day indeed, only spent 6 hours in the park! Since we were having a short day, we decided to  only visit California Adventure. The girls really wanted to see the Aladdin show and it started at 4:45 which gave us about 3 hours to play before queuing up. We managed to accomplish quite a bit! Our main goal was go have ice cream to celebrate Gracie's good report card and then just do whatever until show time. Whatever turned into time spent in Cars Land and Bugs Land. We had a great time and hopped in line for Aladdin right at the tail end of the line which meant no waiting. After the show, as promised, I said "Let's go home". But on our way out, we had to see this and that and do some shopping. Leaving at 6pm turned into 7pm in a flash. So much fun though!

Friday: Another half school day. Days like these make me realize that full school days are awesome! Seems like noon rolls around way too fast. We didn't have anything planned for today except housecleaning. I was too worn out to do much of that though. I had good intentions! I hired a sitter to come at 3pm until midnight so that I could go with Keith to the Champ and Chump party. (A football betting pool game that my husband organizes for his coworkers, chumps cater a dinner party for the champs) After the week of fun, I really didn't feel like going to a 9 hour party. I would much rather have the sitter come over while I sneak upstairs, lock the door to my bedroom and take a hot bath and a super long nap. A mama can dream. But, I did my wifey-duty and went to the party. I don't play the Champ and Chump game; I don't work at the school with the people who do play, and I don't even like football. But, I went to the party. I really enjoyed being alone in my car. The party was fun and I really had a great time. The people my husband works with are awesome! I admit, at 8pm I was yawning and I thought it must be after 11pm. I was dragging!

Saturday: The girls and I headed to San Diego. I had every intention of taking them to the zoo, but we went to Katie's house to pick up Henry and I just melted into her couch and that's where I stayed for a couple of hours. The kids were happy to play with his toys so I didn't bother with another outing. Katie is exhausted and she just caught a cold, so we packed a bag for Henry, went out to eat and hit the road for home. Henry is staying for a couple of days so that Katie can sleep off her cold, catch up on errands and chores, and just be pregnant without having to chase after a sneaky curious toddler.  She's due in 4 more weeks!

This last week lasted a lifetime! It was such a good week. We had lots of fun and somehow, I managed to survive. Sure wish I could have caught a big ol' nap like Gracie did mid-week, but I kept up.